How many times do you need to be reminded that the situation is vastly worse due to the complexity and unreliability of SA's renewables. In fact the last 2 major outages were directly contributed to via renewables.

Below is from the coal plant owner Alinta Energy CEO Jeff Dimery. You clowns do realise it was a private business yeah? Being private it was Alinta's decision.

Mr Dimery said the decision to close the plants and mine followed a strategic review.

He said there had been a decline in energy demands in SA as the number of industrial customers had fallen and households had become more efficient, meaning the state had a significant oversupply of available power.

"There's excess supply of generation and there's been a significant reduction in consumer demand," he said.

"That has put a lot of downward pressure on wholesale prices and as a consequence of that we're unable to generate enough revenue to support the cost structure of the business.

"Households are far more efficient. They're far more energy conscious. Appliances are far more efficient."

Mr Dimery said that during more than four years of running the business, Alinta had incurred operating losses of about $100 million while also investing another $200 million to extend the operating life of the business.

Maybe, just maybe it was a ■■■■ business, that Alinta wanted to get the hell out of.

Nice article that helps explain (at least partly) why power companies are not jumping on the battery bandwagon. With quotes and data from sources such as AEMO and the Grattan Institute, it should help keep those damn rightie tighties at bay (yes, that last sentence was tongue-in-cheek Trip).

If you're wondering why battery storage is still on the fringe of the energy debate in Australia, and also perhaps why power prices are high, just ask Tony Marxsen, the head of the country's energy markets.

A $1 billion battery and solar farm will be built at Morgan in South Australia's Riverland by year's end in a project the proponents describe as "the world's biggest".

The builder, Lyon Group, has already proposed a smaller solar farm and battery storage facility, named Kingfisher, in the state's north.

Lyon partner David Green said the project was 100 per cent equity financed and construction would begin within months, employing 270 workers.

"Riverland Solar Storage's 330-megawatt solar generation and 100-megawatt battery storage system will be Australia's biggest solar farm with 3.4 million solar panels and will also include 1.1 million batteries," he said.

Mr Green said land had already been secured and grid connection was already well advanced.

Work on Lyon's 120 megawatt Kingfisher project is slated to begin in September next year.

"If the 4.7 million solar panels at Riverland and Kingfisher were placed end to end, they would reach from Adelaide to Brisbane and back, and then all the way to Melbourne," Mr Green said.

Mid Murray Council chief executive Russell Peate said such an announcement in this "day and age of employment" was "brilliant" news for the region.

_ "From an employment perspective, that will have a massive effect on the Riverland and particularly Morgan," he said._

"We will need to work with the developer in terms of accommodation, but it will also impact on school enrolments, the Country Fire Service, ambulance volunteers — and that will be fantastic for that area."Tom Koutsantonis, David Green and Jay WeatherillPhoto: Lyon partner David Green with Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis [L] and Premier Jay Weatherill [R]. (ABC News: Nick Harmsen)

Lyon to bid for SA battery tender

The Lyon Group has already signalled its intention to bid for a SA Government tender to build a battery storage system with 100-megawatt output.Lyon Group solar projectPhoto: The Lyon Group has already proposed a smaller solar farm and battery facility in the state's north. (Supplied: Lyon Group)

The tender arrangement would give the Government the right to tap the battery storage at times of peak demand, but allow the project owner to sell energy and stability into the market at other times.

An expressions of interest process closes on Friday.

Other companies, including Carnegie, Zen Energy and Tesla, have all suggested they could be interested in bidding.

Mr Green said the outcome of the tender would not determine whether or not Lyon's projects were built, but would influence the final storage configuration in terms of the balance between optimising grid security and capture of trading revenue.

"The South Australian Government's leadership on large-scale battery storage has come together with technology cost reductions and international financial interest to provide a timely solution to some of the challenges in the state's electricity system," he said.Lyon Group projects

In the dusty scrub of the Thar desert, Pakistan has begun to dig up one of the world’s largest deposits of low-grade, brown, dirty coal to fuel new power stations that could revolutionize the country’s ...

Chinese President Xi Jinping is set to unveil a $46 billion infrastructure spending plan in Pakistan that is a centerpiece of Beijing’s ambitions to open new trade and transport routes across Asia and challenge the U.S. as the dominant regional...

We close a 1600Mw Brown Coal Power station to save the planet and the Chinese and Pakistan are opening up 92,500Mw.

Ever get the feeling you are being played for mugs?

Where are the Greenpeace objections, where are the protests outside the Chinese and Pakistani embassies?

China are an interesting mob. They stopped all planned coal power plants in their own country and are using their own money to build coal power plants for other countries. Yet China are also the biggest investors (research and production) and builders of renewable energy world wide.

As it's hard to get 100% accurate news from China at times, there is a suggestion the cancellation of their own project lead to part of this move. It allows them to sell of 'unused' stock and gives them a foot into Pakistan's door.